Admire People Who Seek God
"This is what the LORD says: 'Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,' declares the LORD."
-- Jeremiah 9:23-24
What is it you admire most about people? Be honest now. You don't have to answer out loud. Some people would say they admire those who are smart. Others admire people who are wealthy or who have a great deal of power. Sometimes those two go together and sometimes they don't. Some would even say they admire people who are kind.
I wonder if anyone said they admire people who love God with everything they have and seek to be like Him. Maybe but most likely not. See we look at people from an earthly point of view, placing value on them based on what we think is important in this world. But as Christians we're supposed to stay focused on eternity, not worrying too much about anything beyond glorifying God with our lives and actions.
I just finished reading Crazy Love by Francis Chan. It's an awesome book! He mentioned the criticism that he and his wife received when they sold their home and moved to a smaller one so they could give more to people who have less. People actually thought the Chans were depriving their children. Amazing! This outsider sees parents who actually practiced what they preach. Literally.
Our world has gotten so messed up. We admire worldly things like wealth and power; things that are temporary. We look strangely at people who are trying to further God's cause. We can't imagine why someone would give up a good job to become a missionary or work at a food bank. What's worse is that so many people who look down on these choices are people who also claim to be Christians. How can that be? The short answer is that they are still just as lost as the people who have never heard of Jesus. The longer answer is that they really don't understand we aren't here to build wealth and power for ourselves. And throwing in a dose of charity doesn't make all the rest of it okay.
I'm not saying we shouldn't strive to be the best we can be. I'm certainly not advocating poverty either. I'm just saying that we admire things that don't matter and we look down on things that do. God clearly says that we should boast about knowing Him and understanding Him. We should show this to the world through kindness to others and living morally right lives, by making choices that lift Him up to others. Let's admire people who truly seek God and not look down on them because they make God-choices rather than world-choices.
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